In memoriam: Mary Wilson

Mary Wilson (1944-2021) of the Supremes seemed fine last week – but now she is gone, suddenly, a month before her 77th birthday. Cause of death yet unknown. Of the original three Supremes only Diana Ross remains – and she was born just 20 days after Wilson. The Supremes had 12 number-one hit songs in the US in the 1960s. Wilson sang on all but two of them: “Love Child” (1968) and “Someday We’ll Be Together” (1969). She is the only Supreme who was there from the beginning till the end in 1977: Florence Ballard left in 1967, Diana Ross in 1970. All three are from the Brewster-Douglass Housing Project in Detroit. Wilson wrote of her glory days in a best-selling book, “Dreamgirl” (1986).

Requiescat in pace.

See also:

• 1964: The Supremes: Baby Love
• 1965: The Supremes: I Hear a Symphony
• 1966: The Supremes: Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart
• 1969: Diana Ross & the Supremes: Someday We’ll Be Together – Wilson did not sing on this song
• 1970: The Supremes: Stoned Love
• songs: the 1960s
• Diana Ross